Recent findings from neuroscience have confirmed the critical importance of the early years to the development of human intelligence. However, these findings may be misunderstood or misapplied by policy makers and educators. We must preserve a balanced view of early education that recognizes the importance of the mother-child relationship and the…

Debunks the "myth of the first three years"--notions about synaptic density changes, critical periods, and "enriched" or complex environments in early brain development. Neuroscientists say synaptic densities vary over the life span. There is no linear connection between number of synapses in the brain and brainpower or intelligence. (Contains 44…

Inquisitiveness is what drives children's learning. Cognitive scientists have devised constructivist theory to explain how an individual progresses from curiosity to new knowledge. Formal schooling has struggled unsuccessfully to simulate real-life learning situations. Emerging brain research supports bringing the community into the learning…

Describes the author's research on learning and brain activity, which involved more than 5,000 students and faculty members. Explores six stages of learning: (1) preparing to learn; (2) starting to learn; (3) consolidation; (4) branching out; (5) gaining fluency; and (6) continued improving. States that merging educational research with…

Results of numerous human imaging studies and nonhuman neurophysiological studies on "reward" highlight a role for frontal, striatal, and thalamic regions in operant learning. By integrating operant and functional neuroimaging methodologies, the present investigation examined brain activation to two types of discriminative stimuli correlated with…

Measurement of eye movements is a powerful tool for investigating perceptual and cognitive function in both infants and adults. Straightforwardly, eye movements provide a multifaceted measure of performance. For example, the location of fixations, their duration, time of occurrence, and accuracy all are potentially revealing and often allow…

This research was aimed at contributing to the current understanding of the underlying factors of naming speed and the causes of naming speed deficits. Forty regular readers and 40 dyslexic university students participated in the study. Electrophysiological (Event-Related Potentials [ERPs]) and behavioral measures were employed. Behavioral…

Mind Mapping can be called the Swiss Army Knife for the brain, a total visual thinking tool or a multi-handed thought catcher. Invented by Tony Buzan in the early 1970s and used by millions around the world, it is a method that can be a part of a techniques repertoire when teaching information literacy, planning, presenting, thinking, and so…

Library media specialists need to embrace brain research and implement its findings into the teaching of information literary skills. Research in the past two decades has used imaging techniques to allow the study of brain functions when listening to music versus composing a song or when recalling a noun or verb. Imaging allows researchers to look…

In this article, the author offers advice for principals on working with teachers to change the instructional climate and on how to apply brain-friendly instructions to improve the effectiveness of one's teaching. To lead an entire district toward the use of brain-compatible instruction, the author suggests to start with a group of motivated…

Recent findings suggest a right hemispheric dominance in gaze-triggered shifts of attention. The aim of this study was to clarify the dominant hemisphere in the gaze processing that mediates attentional shift. A target localization task, with preceding non-predicative gaze cues presented to each visual field, was undertaken by 44 healthy subjects,…

This article reviews an emergent area of traumatic brain injury (TBI) literature; namely, developmental outcomes of TBI sustained during the early childhood and preschool period. The developmental time period from birth through age 5 years is one of significant growth and maturity, particularly in the neurological development of the child. An…

Fragile X syndrome (FXS) is the most common inherited cause of mental retardation resulting in developmental delays in males. Atypical outer ear morphology is characteristic of FXS and may serve as a marker for abnormal auditory function. Despite this abnormality, studies of the hearing of young males with FXS are generally lacking. A few studies…

In this article the author shares his personal experiences beginning in early childhood with his own learning disabilities. As an adult with learning disabilities, he describes how he has learned to manage his language and memory barriers through assistive technology and outside support, and he nourishes himself through therapy or simply…

A weakness in accessing the sounds of spoken language represents the most robust and specific correlate of reading disability in young school age children and adolescents. Neurological science and reading research that provides the scientific knowledge regarding this disability is presented.